By John Lohn<\/p>\n
EAST MEADOW, New York, February 4. QUIET for the last few months, Michael Phelps used the weekend to make a highly successful return to the competitive ranks. Competing at the New York stop on the FINA World Cup circuit, the eight-time Olympic medalist collected a quartet of victories at the Nassau County Aquatic Center, including two on Saturday night. His efforts highlighted a phenomenal night of swimming, an evening that witnessed a pair of American records.<\/p>\n
One day after winning the 100 and 400 individual medley events, Phelps took top honors in the 200 freestyle and 200 I.M., with his freestyle venture producing a new American standard. Meanwhile, American Peter Marshall blasted a new American record in the 50 backstroke. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s an event-by-event recap.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 100 Freestyle:<\/b> The Netherlands\u2019 Marleen Veldhuis, enjoying a strong World Cup circuit, registered an easy victory. The 26-year-old took the lead from the outset and clocked in at 53.59, nearly a second clear of the 54.52 effort of Sweden\u2019s Josefin Lillhage. Germany\u2019s Petra Dallman placed third (54.62) while Italy\u2019s Federica Pellegrini, the top qualifier, took fourth (54.90).<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 200 Freestyle:<\/b> Tabbed as one of the marquee matchups, the eight-lap freestyle measured up to the expectations, thanks to Michael Phelps\u2019 American-record swim of 1:42.78. Phelps, who lowered his mark of 1:43.59, needed a final-lap rally to knock off Italy\u2019s Filippo Magnini, the reigning world champ in the 100 free. The men were dead even at the 175-meter mark, but Phelps edged ahead nearing the wall to finish slightly ahead of Magnini\u2019s 1:42.94. Italy\u2019s Massimiliano Rosolino was third in 1:44.11.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this showed where I am with my training,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to get back into my routine and a rhythm. The past few months, I\u2019ve stayed home and have prepared for my workouts and done good workouts, like I used to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Magnini would go out quick. The plan was to hang with him for the first 100. I felt good and kept it going. I knew he had good closing speed but I dug deep and was able to bring it home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 50 Breaststroke:<\/b> The Pacific Northwest continued its regional domination of the women\u2019s breaststroke with a one-two finish by Tara Kirk (Bremerton) and Megan Jendrick (Puyallup), a repeat of their order in Friday night\u2019s 100 breaststroke. Kirk, who went 30.58, has racked up the hardware in this year\u2019s World Cup circuit, collecting 10 gold medals in the past four stops. Jendrick, timed in 30.66, continued her impressive resurgence on the global scene. New Zealand\u2019s Zoe Baker took third in 30.92.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 100 Breaststroke:<\/b> Echoing Friday\u2019s results in the 50 distance, the Ukraine\u2019s Oleg Lisogor touched first in 58.49, edging the United States\u2019 Brendan Hansen (58.54). Scott Usher\u2019s time of 1:00.83 placed him third. The reigning world champ in the 100 and 200 breast events and the world-record holder in the events, Hansen used the meet as a training stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say the best competitors are the ones that hate to lose,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cIt stinks to lose, but it was important to get some racing in. I\u2019ll take this back to Austin (Texas) and put in some more work. With where I am in training, I wasn\u2019t expecting that kind of time. Things are going well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 400 Individual Medley:<\/b> Again representative of the strong corps sent by the state of Washington to this event, Ariana Kukors posted a 4:34.48 to cap a one-two teenage showing by the U.S. Julia Smit, warmly received by the crowd as the meet\u2019s hometown girl, took second in 4:35.64. The two led from the first lap and progressively increased their margin to the finish. Brazil\u2019s Joanna Maranhao-Melo held off American-record holder Kaitlin Sandeno (4:44.93) to take the bronze in 4:42.82. <\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 100 Butterfly:<\/b> Neighbors to the North (Canada\u2019s Darryl Rudolf and Chad Hankewich) and to the South (Mexico\u2019s Cesar Uribe) represented North America in this field, noteworthy for no American presence. The Ukraine\u2019s Andriy Serdinov turned in the second in back-to-back men\u2019s wins by the Ukraine, scoring gold by a razor-thin margin over Japan\u2019s Kohei Kawamoto (52.28 and 52.31). Mattia Nalesso of Italy posted 52.64 for the bronze. Rudolf\u2019s fourth-place finish in 53.57 marked the third consecutive men\u2019s event where a Canadian finished fourth or fifth, showcasing the slow build of momentum this team has enjoyed post-Athens.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 100 Backstroke: <\/b> Maggie Hoelzer\u2019s 59.46 capped a top-five sweep by the Americans, seconded by silver medalist Caitlin Andrew (1:00.25). Beyond that came a three-part punch by a talented group of teenagers: sixteen-year-old Ariana Kukors\u2019 bronze (1:00.54), marking the second of her three Saturday medals; Kristen Shickora, just 15, placing fourth in 1:01.31; and Lauren English, 16, touching less than two-tenths later in 1:01.48.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 50 Backstroke:<\/b> The Nassau County Aquatic Center has been good to Peter Marshall. Two years after setting a world record in the 100 back at the venue, Marshall notched an American record Saturday night in the 50 back. Not feeling particularly well for Friday\u2019s action, Marshall blitzed a time of 23.39 for the two-lap dorsal. The time was slightly swifter than the former American record of 23.42, set by Neil Walker in 2000. Randall Bal was second in a high-quality 23.51 and Walker was third in 24.09.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t really swim well on Friday because I got a little sick before I got here,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cBut I started to feel better and it came together for me. I was a little bit surprised at the time. This should help me build for the rest of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 200 Butterfly:<\/b> Maintaining splits under 33.00 proved the right recipe for Italy\u2019s Francesca Segat, who brought home the gold in 2:07.60. Li Xinhua, a member of the mysterious and much-anticipated Chinese contingent of potential Beijing contenders, took silver in 2:09.75, and Alex Forrester \u2013 just 14 years of age and a product of the same New York club team that produced Cristina Teuscher and Lea Loveless \u2013 brought home the bronze in 2:11.28. Noteworthy in this night of American records is the stunning longevity of Mary T. Meagher\u2019s American and U.S. Open record in this event (2:05.65), which has now stood for more than twenty-five years. It was set on January 2, 1981, prior to the birth of all eight swimmers in this final.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 200 Individual Medley:<\/b> Completing a sweep of the individual medley events, Michael Phelps fought off a challenge by Brazil\u2019s Thiago Pereira. The world-record holder in the event, Phelps checked in with a time of 1:55.28, a half-second quicker than Pereira. Hungary\u2019s Tamas Kerekjarto was third in 1:56.52. Phelps is expected to contest the American Short Course Championships in Austin, Texas in early March.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 400 Freestyle:<\/b> The new queen of distance swimming, Kate Ziegler scorched a time of 4:03.19 to earn an easy victory over countrywoman Rachel Komisarz (4:07.98). Ziegler was phenomenal in her trek to New York as she established an American record a night earlier in the 800 free. Switzerland\u2019s Flavia Rigamonti picked up third place with a mark of 4:08.57, just ahead of the 4:08.85 of Spain\u2019s Erika Villaecija.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 50 Freestyle:<\/b> With his shattering sub-19 second performance in SCY still a hot topic of conversation among fans and spectators, France\u2019s Fred Bousquet added to his eventual legend with a gold-medal performance of 21.61. Neil Walker churned toward a touch less than one-tenth later (21.69), good for silver, and Brazilian Nicholas Santos closed out the medals in 21.73, successfully holding off American recordholder Nick Brunelli (22.02). Evoking early observations about the quality blend of rising stars and established veterans in World Cup competition, this event showcased longstanding talent. Even the youngest finalist, Brent Hayden (22), has long been respected as a forerunner on the Canadian team.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 200 Breaststroke:<\/b> The women from Washington were at it again in the eight-lap breast. Tara Kirk and Megan Jendrick posted another one-two finish with Kirk scaring her American record. The Stanford product went 2:20.84, just outside her national record of 2:20.70. Jendrick, meanwhile, touched the wall in a solid 2:24.93, plenty faster than the 2:27.42 of Japan\u2019s Hiroka Sakamoto.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t sure I was even going to win,\u201d Kirk said. \u201cMy leg was hurting, so I decided to take the race out fast. I heard the announcer say I almost had the American record, so maybe I should have tried a little harder on that last 50.\u201d<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 1500 Freestyle<\/b> Georgia alum Robert Margalis led start-to-finish in his sixty-lap win in 14:56.94, almost ten seconds slower than his seed time, but almost ten seconds faster than silver medalist Andrew Hurd of Canada (15:06.52). Venezuelan veteran Ricardo Monasterio took the bronze in 15:09.41, having led Hurd for the majority of the race. Likely driven by the deafening enthusiasm of his teammates, Hurd passed Monasterio at the 1,100-meter mark. Spaniard Miguel Payeras followed in fourth place (15:19.04).<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 100 Individual Medley:<\/b> Relatively slow was the result of the 100 individual medley, which was captured by Russia\u2019s Svetlana Karpeeva in 1:02.08. American Ariana Kukors, a budding star, picked up her third medal of the night when she claimed silver in 1:02.35. Earlier in the night, Kukors won the 400 individual medley and took third in the 100 back. Sweden\u2019s Hanna Eriksson was the third-place finisher in 1:02.43.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 200 Backstroke:<\/b> En route to his 11th gold medal in World Cup action this year, Randall Bal was under world-record pace at the 100-meter mark. The Stanford graduate fell slightly off the pace during the final 100 but still produced a stellar performance of 1:50.95. Bal was well ahead of the 1:52.07 of Russia\u2019s Arkady Vyatchanin and the 1:54.26 turned in by Romania\u2019s Razvan Florea.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 50 Butterfly:<\/b> Long known as one of the top sprinters in the world, Sweden\u2019s Therese Alshammar punctuated the evening with a victory in the sprint fly, behind a time of 25.78. Alshammar, who won the 50 free on Friday night, placed ahead of Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands, who touched in 26.42. Caitlin Andrew was third in 26.49.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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